The remote control hobby and toy industry has been rapidly growing through the years with smaller, better, and cheaper control systems. The small size and light weight of modern RC receivers make them nearly inconsequential to carry on toys including flying vehicles. They no longer require long antenna wires and are immune to the multiple transmitter interference that plagued older systems. Infrared systems are also in widespread use as low cost, light weight, and small size solutions for manipulating remote controlled toys. These advancements now make it practicable to use multiple receivers and multiple transmitters to control a single object, paving the way for a Multiple User Controlled Object.
A new world of gaming opportunities is created when two or more players are concurrently commanding the actions of a single physical object. For simplicity, the term “instruction” will be used to define a user's command to manipulate the actions of a controlled object, and the term “control” will be used to define what the object actually responds to. The percentage of control that is used to manipulate any single function on a controlled object, from any single player, can be adjusted to any percentage from 0% to 100% of the user's instruction. In the case of a toy car, for example, two players might have 50% control of the car's steering. If one player instructs the car to turn all the way left while the second player keeps the steering in a neutral position, the car will only turn left with half of its capable turning radius. The second player can instruct the car to turn right to counteract the first player's instruction and keep the car going straight, or assist the first player's instruction by also turning left causing a full-radius left turn. This same concept may apply to other channels such as the car's speed and direction.
By using a separate channel, called an exchange channel, it is also practicable for a player to be able to give up a certain percentage of instruction on one channel in order to enhance the percentage of instruction on a different channel. For example, if player 1 keeps the exchange channel at neutral while player 2 moves the exchange channel towards enhanced steering, then player 2 would have more influence over steering and less influence over speed while player 1 would have more influence over speed and less influence over steering.
When multiple users have only a certain percentage of instruction, the movement of the object is dictated by each player's particular skill and gaming goal, adding a new level of strategic challenge to the game. In the case of the toy car, the goal for players might be to get the car to enter their own individual space by crossing a particular goal line. The object's performance, type and number of control functions, skill level of all players, number of players, level of randomness, and prior knowledge of other players' strategies all play a part in the outcome of the game. Teams can be assembled when enough players participate where team members must work in concert with one another to achieve a common goal.
In addition to gaming, the multiple user control technology can be applied to training and safety of remotely or locally controlled objects where there is a single object that is monitored by a master user who is skillful in controlling the object, and the master can grant or remove any desired percentage of control to other inexperienced participants. The master user can take back control at any time to avert damage to the object or to prevent damage to nearby property or persons, such as to prevent the object from approaching a crowd of people and causing harm. Having a master user or moderator allows student users to safely learn how to command an object when such command is initially difficult, such as when learning to fly a high performance remotely controlled helicopter. It also allows a moderator to maintain a safe and fun environment when remotely controlled objects are operated in large groups, and with crowds of small children where the children are allowed to operate the object under the supervision of the moderator.
All of these gaming, training, and safety concepts are possible using inexpensive microcomputer technology to collect instruction input from two or more users, then scale and mix individual instruction channels to manipulate the action of a single controlled object.
Prior art solutions for physical object gaming provide a one-to-one correlation between a single user and a single controlled object using 100% control over the controlled object.
Prior art for use as a training aid uses a cord comprised of a physical cable that electrically connects two transmitters where one transmitter is the master, the second transmitter is the slave, and where the master transmitter provides a switch to transfer control between master and slave. Such systems are limited to switching 100% control between master and slave transmitters such that only one transmitter has 100% control over the functions of the controlled object at any one time.
Another similar means of switching between master and slave transmitters has been used where two transmitter and receiver pairs are utilized, and where both receivers reside within the controlled object. Such solutions are also limited to 100% switching by using a switch instruction channel on the master transmitter to switch full control of the object to use either the master or the slave receiver.
Gaming that involves commanding of physical objects such as toy car racing can aid in teaching hand and eye coordination. Prior art provides this, but strategic skills are not used as much because the objects themselves lack elements of surprise that can arise at any moment from another user with alternate goals for the same object. When objects are completely tied to a single user's instruction, physical coordination and reaction times remain as the dominant skills. Strategies and thought processes are different when multiple users are allowed to manipulate a single object because the object is no longer responding solely to a single user's physical reactions. This type of command involves real time consideration of an opponent's strategy and requires forethought regarding opponent's possible actions. By having joint control over a single object, attacking an opponent's object to gain an advantage is no longer an effective strategy because the perpetrator is compromised as well by doing so. Having the ability for many users to control a single object can aid in developing new skill sets, provide a new level of fun for the users, and provide a new level of entertainment for spectators that prior art lacks.
Using 100% control switching for training a student to operate an object that is difficult to control lends itself to a common shortcoming. Most students use excessive control when learning to operate complex remotely controlled objects, and the excessive control often impedes learning by repeatedly forcing the object into an awkward or even unstable state. Reducing the amount of control a student has over an object can often aid in teaching by avoiding unstable states in the first place. This allows the student to concentrate more on controlling the object and less on recovering from mistakes. Having a teacher dynamically vary the percentage of control that the student has over the object is not possible using prior art solutions.